Prey to the Dark
by mcatB
Summary: Another excuse for some brotherly h/c. Brian, Daniel and Evan find themselves in trouble out in the dark...
1. Chapter 1

Hannah watched as Brian, Daniel and Evan each added second helpings to their lunch plates. "You boys gonna be gone all day?" she asked.

"Probably," Brian answered around a mouthful of a sandwich. "Bob Carver called a little while ago; found two of our cows on his property. Figure there's a break in the fencing up that way."

"It'll take us a couple hours just to get to his place to get the cows back; then we gotta find the break and fix it, too," Daniel added.

"Can't you just drive to the Carver place?" Hannah asked.

"Not if Adam's got the truck…" Evan added this time.

"And besides, it's actually easier and faster to ride to his place and back," Daniel said.

Hannah nodded, but looked confused. She was still new to the family and how it, and the farm, worked.

"You'll get the hang of things, Hannah," Brian said, picking up on his sister-in-law's feelings. "Don't worry if we're out late, though. May take longer than we think to find the break."

"I guess I'll make and pack you some more sandwiches, then," Hannah offered. "And a jug of juice and a thermos of coffee."

"Sounds great, Hannah. Thanks," Daniel said.

7b47b

The three McFaddens rode easily, following the fence along the northern part of the family's property. The pack horse carrying supplies to mend the fences trailed along after Brian and his horse. Today, depending upon what they found, they would most probably just do a temporary repair, if they could. Once they knew if more needed to be done on a more permanent basis, they could plan out a trip back and bring specific needed supplies for any repairs. Already they had done some minor repairs – tightening some of the wires between posts, marking a rail that had started to rot so they'd find it easier when they returned… As they got closer to the border area near Bob Carver's property, they found the break they were looking for, where the cows had probably gotten through to the other side.

"This rail's broken right in half, Bri," Daniel remarked. "They didn't just find it and go through, though, they broke it; break's fresh," he added.

"That doesn't sound right," Evan remarked, looking at the broken rail.

"Maybe something spooked them," Brian suggested. "Between the wolves and the cougars out here, I wouldn't blame 'em."

Daniel unconsciously glanced at the rifle attached to his saddle as he nodded in agreement to Brian's statement.

"Well, we've got a full rail to replace here," Evan started, moving to the pack horse, picking out one of the short boards they'd brought with them to use as a temporary patch. He made short work of hammering some nails into the board and the two pieces of rail, making one long piece again.

Before putting the patched rail up, though, the three brought their horses and the pack horse through the break, to the Carver side of the fence. Evan put the rail up, setting it up temporarily, knowing they'd be crossing through there again in a few hours, with the stray cows in tow.

The three brothers were soon riding again, following the fence a little further before turning east, toward the Carver Ranch.

By four in the afternoon, the Carver's barn came into sight. Bob himself was working outside and waved to the trio as they got closer.

"Good to see you, boys," Bob greeted them as they approached.

Brian, Daniel and Evan dismounted and shook Bob's hand in turn, greeting him in return.

"So a couple of our cows decided to defect, huh, Bob?" Brian asked with a laugh.

"You know what they say, 'the pasture's always greener' and all that," Bob replied with a smile.

"Where'd you find them," Daniel asked. "Up the same way we came, near Crooked Creek?"

"We found a broken rail up there," Evan added. "Broke clean through. Figure maybe they got spooked."

Bob took off his hat and ran a sweaty hand through his hair. "Don't doubt it, Evan. Lost a couple of my sheep last week out that way. Found some wolf tracks. Don't know where your girls came through, though; I found them right back here, following the sheep into their pen!"

The boys laughed out loud at that, shaking their heads.

"Hey, you boys want anything to eat or drink before heading back?" Bob asked, pointing to the house.

"Your daughters at home?" Daniel asked, waggling his eyebrows, only to get the back of his head slapped by Brian's hat. "Hey!"

Bob laughed at the antics, but shook his head. "Nope, sorry, Daniel, they're still off at school. Maybe you can come calling next weekend, when they'll be home for break."

"We'd love to, Bob," Brian replied to Bob's original offer. "But it's already getting late."

Bob saw the sincerity in Brian's words and nodded his head. "Yeah. Let's get you your girls and get you on your way, then," he said, walking toward a paddock on the other side of the barn.

Evan and Daniel each grabbed a rope off their saddles and followed Brian and Bob to the paddock. They easily identified the stray cows as belonging to their family and, tying loose tethers of rope around them, led them back to their horses.

"Thanks, Bob," Brian said, shaking his fellow rancher's hand. "Appreciate you taking care of them for us.

"Yeah, thanks, Mr. Carver," Evan added, shaking his hand as well.

"Nothing you boys wouldn't do for me," Bob replied with a smile. "Give my regards to the rest of the boys, and to that pretty little wife of Adam's, too!"

Brian laughed, saying, "We will," as he mounted his horse and turned it.

The three men, four horses and two cows slowly walked away from Bob, heading for home.

7b47b

The ride back to the broken fence was uneventful. When they reached it, Brian dismounted first, removing the rail they'd put up temporarily and waited while Daniel and Evan crossed with their horses and the cows before bringing his horse and the pack horse across.

"Might as well let them loose," Brian told Daniel, motioning to the cows. "They'll probably just follow us the rest of the way, anyway."

Daniel and Evan both nodded, and after dismounting their horses and went about letting the cows loose from their tethers. While Evan then went to help Brian secure the fence rail more permanently, nailing the rail to the posts, Daniel stopped to watch as the cows hurriedly went on their way.

Daniel, suddenly feeling somewhat off, grabbed the rifle from his saddle. "Brian. Evan," he called to his brothers. They turned to look at him and Brian, especially, got his guard up, seeing the weapon in Daniel's hand. "They're spooked again," Daniel said, jacking a thumb in the direction of the retreating cows.

"Let's look around," Brian suggested.

The three brothers looked around, noting the area they were in. The fencing bordered a rough open pasture. There was a small creek, Crooked Creek, which ran along the border – sometimes on McFadden property, sometimes on Carver property – and the occasional groupings of wooded areas that covered most of the northern McFadden property. The brothers knew there were predators in those woods. They'd dealt with wolves and the occasional cougar, just like Bob Carver had mentioned just hours ago.

They spread out a bit, each one carrying a weapon now, searching for the source of Daniel's discomfort.

It was Evan who shouted first, calling out his brothers' names. Daniel and Brian each ran toward his voice.

"Whatcha got, Evan?" Brian asked coming through the low brush, worry in his voice.

Daniel let out a low whistle. "Looks like we found out what spooked them cows," he said.

Evan stood up from where he had been crouched down next to the ravaged deer corpse. "Looks like wolf. Maybe the cows were around when the deer was killed."

"Nah, more likely just scared by the smell," Brian countered. "This is old. Wolf's long gone by now."

"Yeah," Daniel agreed. He patted Evan's shoulder. "Come on, it's getting dark. I wanna go home."

Evan nodded and the three turned away from the deer's remains. It didn't take long to get back to their horses. They finished up with the fence, stowed the tools and mounted up. Evan led the way home.

And while they knew that deer kill wasn't recent, they still knew the predator could be near.

7b47b

It had become full dark and the brothers were still about an hour's ride from their ranch. They decided to continue, knowing they could stay along the fence line without too much trouble. They had flashlights if they needed light. Daniel had just about said the same, when Brian told them to hold up.

"What's up, Bri?" Daniel asked.

"Think my horse picked up a rock or something," he replied. "Hang on a minute," he added, dismounting.

Daniel and Evan stopped and turned their horses, trying to see what Brian was doing. Evan pointed a flashlight beam Brian's way.

Brian whispered to his horse, reassuring her as he moved from hoof to hoof, trying to discern which one was bothering her. "Easy, easy," he said a little louder when he found the offending rock and tried scraping it loose.

"Brian?" Daniel called quietly.

Evan sat straighter in his saddle. Something about the tone of Daniel's voice bothered him. He took the flashlight beam off Brian and circled it around the trio while is other hand reached for his rifle.

Brian was unprepared for what happened next, though, as the pack horse screeched and jumped, pulling and shoving at Brian's horse in front of it. Soon Brian found himself underneath eight flailing hooves and he scrambled to move back away from them.

"Brian!" Evan and Daniel both shouted, each now trying to control their own horses underneath them, not knowing what caused the ruckus to begin with, but knowing that atop their horses, they were at least safer than Brian.

Brian cried out when the first hoof landed a hit to his left leg. It was only natural for his hands to reach for the source of pain and grab his thigh. The second blow glanced across his cheek and he rolled away, and over, realizing that he needed to cover his head. The last thing he remembered was the sharp pain emanating from his spine as a heavy weight came crashing down on him.

7b47b


	2. Chapter 2

Evan and Daniel swung around in their saddles, flashlights frantically searching for danger; for something to shoot.

"Daniel? I don't see anything!" Evan shouted, frustration in his voice.

"Keep looking! And get them horses settled down!" Daniel shouted to his younger brother before turning his attention back to his older brother. Brian! You okay?" Daniel called, searching, and finding him on the ground. He quickly jumped off his horse and rushed over to Brian's prone form, dropping his flashlight next to him. "Shit, Bri, don't do this to me," Daniel muttered, his shaking hands moving over Brian's torso. He was relieved to feel the movement of Brian's breathing, but worried at the bruising on Brian's cheek, already evident amongst the shadows.

"Is he okay?" Evan asked worriedly, coming to Brian's other side.

"What the hell is out there?" Daniel exclaimed, angry that Brian was hurt, but noting four seemingly healthy horses now standing around. Before he gave Evan a chance to answer, though, he continued, "No, he's not okay. Looks like he got kicked in the face! We gotta get him back to the ranch."

"We gotta see just how bad he's hurt, first," Evan stated, moving his flashlight's beam over Brian's form, looking more thoroughly.

A moan from Brian brought sighs of relief from his brothers. Daniel leaned in closer.

"Brian? Come on; talk to me, big brother," Daniel coaxed. "You okay?"

"Oh, God, Dan," Brian cried out. His first instinct to roll onto his back was quickly stopped by the sharp pain coming from his back. "Son of a bitch!"

"Where you hurting, Brian?" Evan asked.

"My back… something landed on my back. Damn… I think it's broke…" he managed.

"Shit," Daniel swore, sitting back, fear entering his body like he'd never felt before.

Evan tried to meet Daniel's gaze, but could not, in the dark. He was sure by Daniel's voice, though, that he was thinking the same thing. "Brian? You can feel your legs and stuff, right?" he asked, afraid of the possible answer.

Brian's labored breathing was the only thing the brothers heard for too long, which made Daniel and Evan jump to their worst conclusion.

"My leg. My left leg," Brian panted, breaking the silence. "It's killing me, too. Is it broke?"

Daniel recovered first, grabbing Evan's hand and flashlight and lifting them into the air above Brian. "I'm gonna take a look, Bri. Just hang on," he instructed.

Daniel carefully put his hands on Brian's left leg, moving them gently upward from the ankle. He eased off the slight pressure at Brian's cry of pain when he touched the outer thigh. "Doesn't feel broken to me. No bones sticking out or nothing. Maybe it's just bruised up bad," he said. He moved to the right leg and did the same thing, and thankfully got no reaction from his brother. He had Evan move the flashlight beam upward and gently lifted Brian's vest and then his shirt, which had already been untucked from his jeans.

"Daniel?" Brian called, anxious.

Daniel and Evan both saw the deep bruising and blood from where at least two horse hooves had landed on their brother's back. "Evan, go get something to cover this up and stop the bleeding," Daniel instructed. "Brian, looks like they stomped you pretty good – you're bruised and bleeding back here," he told Brian. "I don't think we should move you. I think we gotta call in a rescue team to come getcha."

"I wanna get out of here. I wanna go home," Brian got out between pain-filled breaths, moving his arms and pushing himself up again.

He managed to roll onto his right side before Daniel and the stabbing pain coming from his back stopped his movement.

"Don't move, Bri!" Daniel shouted.

"We need… gotta get out of here," Brian panted between cries of pain.

"I know, buddy," Daniel replied, soothing, putting a comforting and steadying hand on his brother's shoulder. "But you're the one that thinks your back is broken, and looking at it from here, I don't doubt it. You can feel your legs now; we wanna keep it that way."

Evan returned with some napkins Hannah had packed with their dinner and an extra tee shirt that he'd brought.

"Any sign of whatever it was that spooked the horses out there?" Daniel asked while putting a couple of the napkins over the wounds on Brian's back and gently pressing on them.

"Nothing," Evan replied. "Even checked the pack horse over – no scratches or anything. He wasn't attacked or anything."

"You gotta go for help, Ev," Daniel instructed. "I'll stay with Brian."

Evan nodded his head in agreement. He then took off his jacket and placed it over Brian's torso. He put his hand on Brian's shoulder and said, "Hang tight, Brian. I'll be back as soon as I can."

7b47b

Knowing it could be hours before help arrived, Daniel knew Brian needed him to do more than just hold his hand in the dark while they waited.

"I'll be right here, Brian," he said, propping his flashlight up so it covered more area. "Don't move, okay?"

After getting a nod from his brother, Daniel headed back to the horses. Going through the supplies on the pack horse and on his own, he came back to Brian with a small bundle of things. He dropped a few things down on the ground next to Brian – the juice and coffee thermos that Hannah had packed, another flashlight, and a blanket. He spread the blanket over Brian. Then he set about starting a fire.

"It's already getting a bit chilly," Daniel said aloud, gathering some tinder. "Gonna need to keep you warm. That, and I figure it'll help Evan and the rescue team he brings find us again."

"And keep… whatever it is out there… away," Brian added.

"Yeah. That, too," Daniel agreed, pausing to look around them again.

Daniel got the tinder started and then added some kindling, some twigs he found on the ground. He had some wood from the fence repair supply they brought with them he could add, too, if needed, but didn't think it would come to that. There was plenty of wood around them to last them the hour or two until Evan returned with help.

"How you doing, Brian?" Daniel asked, coming to sit down next to Brian again, now that the fire was going. "Any worse?"

"Just getting cold… and uncomfortable," he replied with a groan. "Wish I could move."

"I know, I know," Daniel replied, gently patting Brian's shoulder. "Won't be long, though. Evan'll be back with help soon."

The two were quiet for a while, the only sounds being the crackling of the fire, which Daniel kept going, steadily feeding it from where he sat, and Brian's pain-filled groans and whimpers. Brian broke the silence.

"What do you think it is?" he asked. "What's out there?"

"I don't know, Brian," Daniel answered. "Thought it was a wolf, looking at that deer carcass we found."

"Wolf wouldn't… wouldn't come after horses with riders… not like this," Brian countered.

"Yeah, I know," Daniel agreed. "Unless it was sick. But…" Daniel shrugged and shook his head. "It didn't do nothin', Brian. There wasn't anything here. There still ain't nothin' here."

Brian shivered with cold. Daniel added more wood to the fire.


	3. Chapter 3

Evan rode as quickly as he dared in the dark. He needed to get back to the ranch as soon as he could, to get Brian the help he needed. He knew the trail he and his horse were on like the back of his hand, and had ridden it in the dark too many times to count, but it still didn't mean he could ride at full gallop. And it wasn't just Brian's plight that made him want to ride faster…

He still felt that uneasiness, that inner fear that he couldn't explain. Something was out there in the dark with them. Something had spooked the horses; maybe even that cow they'd gone after. But what that something was, he didn't know. And that was what scared him most.

The brothers had hunted in these lands for years. They knew what kinds of predators were out there. They'd gone after cougar, wolf, coyote and even an occasional bear, when warranted. The deer carcass that they'd found looked like it had been killed by a wolf, but… Evan still couldn't name what he feared now, other than it just didn't feel like a wolf. Or anything else he could name.

He came to a curve in the trail and knew he could quicken his pace. His horse knew, too, it seemed, and did so without command. Maybe the horse was still feeling that fear, too…

The pair moved swiftly, the horse at a near full gallop for about ten minutes before slowing down again to a brisk trot, needing to move through a small, smooth bottomed creek. Evan stopped the horse completely, then, letting it drop its head down to grab a drink of the water. He pulled out his canteen and did the same. He was just about to put it away when he heard the noise, what sounded like a high pitched keen off in the distance. The horse beneath him began to buck and Evan dropped his canteen in order to hold on and pull the reins sharply to the right. He reached forward with his right hand and held onto the horse's bridle, whispering, "Easy, buddy," as he looked around.

Once his horse was settled, he loosened the reins and urged it forward, continuing their trek homeward. He didn't know what had made that sound, but was thankful that it didn't come from either the direction he had come from or was headed to.

7b47b

Daniel stood, rifle in hand, at the sound he could only describe as horrible. His heart thumping hard inside his chest, he held tight onto the flashlight with this left hand, up tight against the rifle held just as tightly in his right. Ignoring the snorting and stamping horses, he aimed in the direction he'd heard the high pitched keen and waited. He knew it wasn't anywhere near them; knew deep down that they weren't in any imminent danger from it…

"Dan? What the… what the hell was that?" Brian asked, breaking the silence of Daniel's thoughts.

Broken from his frozen stance, Daniel lowered the weapon and flashlight and kneeled down next to his brother.

"I don't know, Bri," he answered. "I never heard anything like that before."

"Sounded sad," Brian whispered. He moved to look toward Daniel, but felt his brother's hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

"Hey, no moving, remember?" Daniel told him.

Brian nodded and dropped his head back down onto his right arm. He closed his eyes and let out a few quick breaths. He knew he had to keep still. He worried about the pain he was feeling as it emanated from his lower back and deep down; was happy to feel the pain in his leg. As much as it was painful, it meant that he still had feeling there… When Evan had first asked him if he still had feeling in his legs, he'd heard the trepidation in his voice – hell, even though his leg was killing him at that moment, he still had to think about it; think the worst. The brothers knew all too well about this type of injury – one of Evan's friends had been paralyzed in a rodeo earlier this year.

"I'm tired. Hurts to stay this way," Brian told him. His voice conveyed his exhaustion and pain.

"I know," Daniel replied. He took his jacket off, then, and rolled it up. He put it under Brian's left arm, next to his chest, hoping it would help him support his body and help him relax a bit. He threw another log onto the fire.

Rising and moving to the now quieted horses, Daniel checked them over; patted their necks soothingly. "Hurry up, Evan," he whispered.

7b47b

Evan sighed in relief as the lights of the ranch came into sight. He urged his horse faster, again knowing the trail as an easy flat one. Within minutes he's outside the back door shouting, "Adam! Hannah! Crane!" He's dismounted and heading up the steps, nearly crashing into the screen door as Crane hurries out, having heard the shouts.

"Evan? What's the matter?" Crane asked, grabbing Evan by the shoulders, stopping him in his tracks.

"Where are Daniel and Brian?" Hannah asked, coming out, too.

Putting his hands on Crane's arms to support himself, catching his breath, Evan replied, "Brian's hurt. Daniel's with him. Up by Crooked Creek. Half hour from Carver's property," he managed in one breath.

"I'll get my kit," Hannah said. "Crane, saddle the horses."

"Wait," Evan said, grabbing Hannah's wrist and stepping back from Crane. "We're gonna need the rescue team. A backboard," he added, which stopped the others from their tasks.

"How bad is he hurt?" Adam asked. "And how?"

"Horses got spooked. One stomped on him," Evan said. "Brian thinks his back is broken."

"Oh, Lord," Hannah whispered.

"Crane, get the horses saddled. Me and Hanna will head up there now," Adam ordered. "Evan, you stay here, tell the rescue team everything and how to get to Brian and Daniel when they get here."

"Look for the camp fire," Evan told Adam, who nodded.

Evan sat heavily on the porch and waited while the others moved about; Hannah getting her medical kit, Crane and Ford heading to the barn to saddle Adam and Hannah's horses, and Adam going back into the house to call for the rescue team.

"Evan?" Adam called from inside. When Evan entered the kitchen, Adam had the phone cradled between his shoulder and head. "How long a ride was it to get back here?" he asked.

"About an hour or so," he replied. He listened as Adam relayed the information to the emergency dispatcher.

After Adam hung up the phone, he turned to Evan. "Rescue squad should be here in about fifteen minutes or so. Gonna need you to show them how to get there."

Evan nodded in understanding. As Adam turned to head back outside, though, Evan grabbed his arm. "Adam," he started. "There's something else." Evan hesitated, not knowing how to tell Adam what he'd felt out there; what had spooked them all."

"What is it, Ev?" Adam asked, seeing the uncertainty in his brother's eyes.

"There's something out there. What spooked the horses," Evan told him. "Spooked us, too."

"What? A cougar or wolf or something?" Adam asked, starting to dismiss Evan's fear. "It's dark, and you're worried about Brian."

"No, Adam," Evan insisted. "Can't put a name to it. But… you'll feel it when you get out there. There was this noise… high pitched…" Evan shuddered. "Just… just be careful, Adam. You and Hannah. Just be careful."

Adam nodded this time, putting a hand onto Evan's shoulder and squeezing it reassuringly. "We'll see you soon."

Evan watched as Adam and Hannah mounted their horses. Crane, Ford and Guthrie had all stood and watched as well, and wished them good luck. After the pair was out of sight, Evan found himself the focus of his brothers' attention.

"You okay, Evan?" Crane asked.

"No," he replied quickly and headed to the barn, grabbing his horse along the way. "Gotta saddle up a new horse. Mind if I take yours, Crane?"

Crane followed. "No. I'll saddle her up for you," he replied.

"Brian'll be okay. You'll see," Guthrie offered, having followed them into the barn.

"Yeah," Evan replied with a nod for the youngest.


	4. Chapter 4

Daniel circled around the area once more, coming to a stop and crouching down next to Brian again.

"Daniel… need to… calm down," Brian whispered.

Daniel heard the pain and weariness in his brother's voice. "I know, Bri," he replied, placing a hand on to the nape of Brian's neck and giving it a gentle squeeze. "Just… I know you can feel it, too. You'd think it was Halloween and we were in the haunted house at the county fair or somethin'… just knowing someone's gonna come out and scream at ya, but not knowing when."

"Think Evan… got home yet?"

Daniel held his arm out toward the fire, glancing at his watch in the light. "Should've gotten there by now," he replied. "Maybe another forty-five minutes or so before help gets here." He looked back down at Brian, saw how hard Brian was struggling to stay still; to keep from crying out in pain; to keep his own fear from showing. "We're gonna get you out of here, Brian," he said. "Ain't nothing out there gonna keep us from doing that."

Brian nodded his head. He believed in his brother; in his family.

"Here, let me get you a sip of some coffee. It's still kinda warm," Daniel offered, reaching for the thermos. He poured a small amount into the cup and helped tilt Brian's head so he could sip at it without spilling too much. After seeing how just swallowing three or four times tired Brian out, he pulled the cup away. "Probably shouldn't have too much anyway," he said before finishing what was left in the cup himself.

"How you holding up, Bri?" Daniel asked. "I mean, I know you're hurting…"

"Can still feel… and wiggle… my… toes."

"How about your leg? Still hurting, too?"

"Yeah… dull ache, though."

"You tell me if anything changes, okay?" Daniel asked; told him.

Brian just nodded in response, tired from talking. Daniel nodded right back, putting his hand back onto Brian's shoulder, needing the contact. And while he stayed close to Brian, needing to keep watch over him, needing to know he was still okay, he still made sure that he kept watch around the rest of the camp, too…

7b47b

"How much further?" Hannah called out. She was following Adam, trusting him to lead her and the horses to Daniel and Brian; trusting him to know the way and get them there safely.

"Another half an hour or so, I think. Maybe forty-five minutes," he replied. "You doing okay back there?"

"I'm fine," she replied. Hannah adjusted the grip of her medical kit as its long strap moved across her right shoulder.

Adam nodded, even knowing that Hannah wouldn't see it in the dark. He'd been wondering about Evan's warning – wondering what was out here that had spooked his brothers and their animals so much. The family had spent their entire lives on this property – had ridden, hiked, camped and hunted – through all seasons, day and night. They knew enough to be cautious, but not afraid, of the predators out here. He chose not to mention Evan's warning to Hannah. He didn't want her to worry about anything more than taking care of Brian. He would handle anything else that may cross their path.

It was at that moment that they both heard the high pitched keening screech come out of the darkness.

"Adam!" Hannah cried, urging her horse forward to come alongside Adam's. "What was that?"

"I don't know," Adam replied. "But it's far enough off that we don't have to worry about it," he added, hoping he sounded convincing.

"You think that was what spooked Brian's horse?" Hannah asked as they got the horses moving again.

"Don't know. Maybe."

Hannah may not have had the ranching experience of her husband and his brothers and she may not have been married to Adam long enough to know everything about him, but she did know him long enough to know when he was trying to downplay something, to put her at ease. She wasn't happy about it, knowing that he was probably feeling that same gut fear she was starting to feel, but she wasn't about to call him on it. She knew enough that they had a purpose for being out here. It wasn't to find and hunt down whatever that thing that made that noise was. It was to find Brian and Daniel and help them.

"I don't know what I'll be able to do for Brian," she said aloud. "Probably just bandage any wounds up." She knew she was just making small talk to avoid talking about the feelings they had.

"That may just be what he needs until the rescue team gets there," Adam replied, willing to go along with the conversation. "They'll probably make better time than us, too. Last time I talked to Marlene Sweet, the team captain, she said they were getting some four-wheeler ATVs."

Their conversation continued like this, talking together about what they would do when they reached Daniel and Brian, what they'd need to do to help the rescue team, possible ways for getting Brian back to the ranch safely, and so forth.

7b47b

"Evan! Crane!" Guthrie shouted. "They're here!"

The brothers came around the side of the barn to see the trucks come up the driveway toward the house.

The four McFadden brothers met the rescue team as they parked their trucks. Marlene Sweet, the team captain exited the passenger side of the first truck, which had been driven by her husband, Mike.

"What's the story, Crane?" she asked.

"Better let Evan tell it. He was there," Crane replied.

The group looked toward Evan.

"Brian was standing next to his horse, scraping a rock or something from a hoof," he began. "The pack horse was tied to his horse. Something spooked it…" He stopped for a moment before continuing, "something spooked it and it reared back. Next thing we knew, Brian was on the ground."

"What kind of injuries?" Marlene asked.

"He thinks he broke his back. We saw at least two places on his back," and here Evan moved his hands to his lower back to show Marlene where, "where he got stomped. He was bleeding and bruised up good."

"How bad was the bleeding?" Mike asked.

"Not too bad, I don't think," Evan replied. "We covered the wounds up with some napkins and my tee shirt. Seemed to be enough."

"Was he hurt anywhere else?" Marlene asked.

"His left thigh was hurting. I think he got stepped on or hit there. And his cheek was bruised."

"Any loss of consciousness or trouble breathing or anything?" she asked.

"Not that I know of," he replied.

"You and Daniel weren't hurt?"

"No, they're fine. And Adam and Hannah left about fifteen minutes ago. Hannah's got her kit. Look, can we get going now?" Evan replied, his impatience growing and showing.

The brothers were so focused on listening to Evan tell Marlene and Mike what had happened that they didn't even realize that other members of the rescue team had been unloading their equipment, which included two ATVs, loaded down with medical kits and equipment.

"Think we can get to him with these?" Marlene asked Evan.

"Yeah," he replied. "But I don't see how you'll get Brian out – he can't ride them, not with his back. Heck, we would have brought him home if we thought he could ride something like that!"

"We're just gonna get us and our gear to him with these, Evan," Mike replied. "But don't you worry; we'll get him out, too. That plan's in the works already."

"Then let's get going!" Evan quickly ran to Crane's horse, mounted it and headed off to the north and Briand and Daniel.

Marlene and Mike mounted the two ATVs and, switching on the headlights and putting on helmets, followed Evan.

Crane turned to the other rescue team members. "So what's the rest of the plan?"

Dougie Parsons raised his hand, showing Crane the hand-held radio in it. "We got a chopper heading our way. Soon as Mike and Marlene call saying they're ready, they'll let us know a location – set up a light or send up a flare – and they'll airlift Brian outta there."

"A helicopter! Cool!" Guthrie exclaimed.

"Wish Evan woulda heard that part," Ford said, entering the conversation. "Mighta made him feel better."

Crane nodded his head. He'd seen both Ford and Guthrie's eyes light up as soon as Dougie mentioned the helicopter. It would it speed Brian's rescue, but he also knew that the younger boys just thought it was going to be a cool thing to see! But he'd also heard and seen the fear in Evan's voice and eyes. A helicopter wasn't going to change anything.

He thought he heard something in the wind, then… a sad, high pitched wail. He looked at his brothers and the rescue team members. No one else seemed to have noticed…

7b47b

"There! Up ahead!" Adam shouted, pointing.

Hannah looked up at Adam's shout and saw the soft glow ahead in the distance. A camp fire. She wanted to urge her horse faster now, knowing they were close, but Adam didn't move any faster.

"Some rocky parts up here, next to the creek. Don't go too fast," he told her, answering her unasked thoughts.

So they kept the pace, and got closer and closer.

"Daniel? Brian?" Adam shouted ahead, hoping to get the reply he needed to hear from his brothers.

"Adam!"

Adam and Hannah were relieved to hear Daniel's voice reply to their hail. Soon they saw their younger brother waving a flashlight beam toward them, leading them his way.

7b47b

"Brian! They're here! Adam and Hannah are here!" Daniel rushed back to tell Brian. "Gonna get you outta here, big brother!"

Before he even finished his sentence, Adam and Hannah were crouched down next to Daniel and Brian, Hannah putting her kit near the light of the fire.

"Brian? How are you doing?" Hannah asked, putting a light hand to Brian's bruised cheek.

Brian opened his eyes wearily, and managed to tiredly reply, "Been better."

"I know, Sweetie," Hannah said.

Before Daniel could ask, Adam told him, " Rescue team should be coming up behind us – maybe get here in fifteen, twenty minutes if the Dispatcher guessed right. "

Hannah began her patient assessment of Brian, going through her training by the numbers… by the ABCs… head to toe…

While Hannah worked, Adam took Daniel aside, stepping back slightly from his wife and brother. "What's out here? Have you seen anything?" he asked Daniel. "Evan was spooked – I've never seen him so scared, Daniel."

Daniel just shook his head. "That's just it, Adam!" he replied in a hushed, but angry voice. "We ain't seen anything! Just this…" he stopped, not knowing what to say.

"That screech," Adam said. "And the feeling…" he added.

"You heard it?" Daniel asked. "You feel it?"

"Adam? Daniel?" Hannah called.

"What do you need?" "Brian okay?" the two men replied, returning to Brian's side.

Daniel had quickly noted that Hannah had already changed the bandaging on Brian's back.

"I want to take Brian's boots off – to check his circulation and movement," she replied. "I need you two to keep him still."

Daniel had seen that Hannah had cut Brian's left pant leg, exposing the massive bruise that covered his thigh. The hoof print in the middle of it all was shocking to see. He hadn't realized it was so bad – and had started to swell. Brian only mentioned it causing a dull ache…

"Here, I'll do it," Adam offered, reaching for Brian's right boot first.

Between the three of them, they managed to do as Hannah asked with minimal movement or discomfort on Brian's part. When Hannah was satisfied that all was well, and there wasn't much else that she could do, she got a couple of ice packs out of the medical kit and punched them to activate the chemical reaction needed to make them cold. She placed one onto Brian's bruised thigh. The other, she placed on his bruised cheek. Then she had Daniel and Adam help put the blankets back on Brian to keep him warm.

"We'll be out of here soon, Brian," Hannah whispered, a sudden shiver going down her spine.


	5. Chapter 5

"Adam?" Brian called.

Adam hated hearing the pain in Brian's voice. Brian may be an adult in his twenties, but he was still his little brother… "Right here, Bri," he answered, crouching down so he was eye to eye with him.

While Brian didn't say anything aloud, Adam managed to understand. He saw the body language, heard the measured breathing that was controlling the pain and fear. "We'll getcha outta here soon, Brian. You just gotta hang on a little longer. I know you're hurting. I know you're afraid to move." He put a hand to Brian's forehead, meeting his gaze, letting out a sigh, whispering, "And I don't know what's out there either. But let's just take things as they come and just get the hell out of here tonight, okay?"

Brian managed a nod in response before closing his eyes. The pain was only getting worse. All he wanted to do was get up, get on a horse and ride home, but he also knew that it was the worst thing he could do; that it might even be impossible for him to do. So he concentrated on his breathing, trying not to hyperventilate, and kept himself still, willing himself not move his back, fearing more damage or paralysis – as he lay on the cold, hard ground, comforted only by the fact that his big brother was with him now.

7b47b

Adam, Hannah and Daniel all rose and faced the south, where they hear d the sound of the ATVs heading their way. Soon, they heard Evan's voice calling out, shouting to them.

"Daniel! Adam!"

Before they knew it, Daniel rode into the small camp, followed by Mike and Marlene on the ATVs. Hannah moved back to kneel next to Brian.

"Won't be long, Brian," she told him.

Marlene removed her kit from the back of one ATV and headed toward Hannah and Brian. Mike called Adam over to help him with the equipment on his ATV.

"Hey there, Brian. I hear you got yourself stomped on," Marlene joked as she knelt down next to her patient.

"He's in a lot of pain," Hannah said, when Brian only responded with a slight wave of his hand. "Real uncomfortable, too – they've done a good job keeping him from moving." She held her flashlight up so that Marlene could get a better look at Brian. "Vital signs are good, though a little high and fast because of the pain," Hannah added.

Marlene acknowledged the information as she examined Brian and decided what needed to be done next. She looked up as Mike brought a backboard to her.

"Did you call Dougie yet?" she asked, pulling a cervical collar from her kit.

"Just about to," Mike replied.

7b47b

Crane handed Dougie Parsons a mug filled with coffee. He, Dougie, Ford and Guthrie had been waiting as patiently as they could in the McFadden's kitchen, waiting for word on Marlene and Mike's progress and Brian's condition. They all jumped as the radio came to life, Mike's voice coming over it.

"Rescue One to Truck One."

"Truck One," Dougie replied, keying the mike.

"We just got to the camp. Sending up a flare now," Mike reported.

The men and boys quickly ran from the kitchen to look for the flare in the sky. Far in the distance they saw a red glow. "We see it," Dougie reported.

"Air Rescue Four acknowledge," another voice said over the radio. "We have visual; about five minutes from your location."

"There's a small clearing just to our south. Look for a camp fire," they heard Mike tell the helicopter pilot.

"Roger that," the pilot replied.

Dougie looked to the McFaddens. "Won't be much longer now," he said. "They'll get Brian to the hospital soon – probably be there in less than an hour."

Crane nodded, unconsciously hugging his younger brothers to him as he did, glad to know they were safe with him; glad to know that Brian was getting the help he needed.

7b47b

Brian cried out loudly as he was rolled onto his back, onto the backboard. Between the change of position, his sore stiff muscles and body protesting the movement, and the injuries to his back and leg reminding him why this was all happening to begin with, he couldn't help but lose the fine control he'd held for the past few hours. Hyperventilating due to the pain and pressure, as his injured vertebrae were being pressed down against the hard wooden backboard, was making him dizzy.

Hannah's voice floated over him, "You need to calm down, Brian; slow down your breathing."

Hannah adjusted her hold on his head and neck, waiting as Marlene adjusted the oxygen mask on Brian's face before she and Mike secured the straps across his body to the backboard.

"Don't you carry any pain medicine?" Daniel asked.

"I'm afraid not, Daniel," Mike replied, regret in his voice. "We're not paramedics yet. Just basic EMTs. No meds."

They all looked up as the rescue helicopter flew overhead, stopping to hover a little ways away from them.

Adam and Evan quickly moved to the horses, calming them down as they pulled on their reins, scared by the aircraft.

"Rescue One, what's your status?" the helicopter pilot called on the radio.

Marlene picked up the radio and replied, "Just finishing packaging up the patient. He's stable with good vitals at this time. He's presenting with spinal and leg injuries."

"Roger that, we're sending down a stokes," the pilot returned.

The group looked toward the helicopter, its spotlights illuminating the ground nearby, and watched as a stokes basket was lowered down.

"You boys help Marlene bring Brian over; I'll grab the basket," Mike told them heading away.

Adam, Evan and Daniel joined Hannah and Marlene, each grabbing a handhold on the backboard at Marlene's instruction.

"On three, we'll lift," Hannah instructed from her position, still near Brian's head. "One, two, three."

They lifted the backboard with Brian on it as one. Brian let out another painful moan, the movement, gentle though it was, aggravating the dizziness and pain.

Brian opened his eyes, looking around him, seeing his brothers, Hannah and Marlene surrounding him. He looked up at the stars and trees and they started to blur. He was just about to close his eyes against the dizziness and nausea that threatened when something caught his eye. A pale figure in the trees… jumping from branch to branch… following them…

"Adam! Daniel!" Brian yelled, struggling against the restraints, nearly making everyone lose their grip on the backboard.

"Brian! Hold still!" Adam scolded.

"You gotta calm down and stay still, Honey!" Marlene soothed, though she was shouting loudly to be heard over the helicopter's engine. "Just a few more feet and you'll be on your way up!"

"In the trees!" Brian got out.

Daniel managed to glance up, trying to figure out what Brian was talking about. He didn't see anything –other than lots of branches and leaves blowing wildly as a result of the helicopter's powerful rotors.

"There's nothing there, Bri!" he said. "Just the wind! Now ease up!"

Brian's eyes were wild, searching the trees for the figure he'd swore he saw. He knew he was panicking; knew he was on the verge of passing out, due to him starting to hyperventilate again; he saw how windy it was; it had to have been his imagination. Right?

Before he knew it dark shadows were hovering over him, faces forced into shadows by the bright lights of the helicopter.

"All hooked up!" Mike shouted.

"Rescue One to Helicopter Four! Bring him up!" Marlene called into her radio.

"We'll see you at the hospital!" Daniel called, quickly patting Brian's shoulder before he was out of reach.

"See you soon!" Adam added.

They all watched as the basket seemed to get smaller as it moved up into the air and was finally brought into the helicopter by its crew.

"Helicopter Four to Rescue One. We've got him and we're out of here," the pilot called to them as the aircraft quickly ended its hover and flew away.

"Much appreciated, Helicopter Four. Until next time," Marlene replied.

The group walked quickly back to the campfire and the still agitated horses.

"Let's get the hell out of here," Adam said.


	6. Chapter 6

Daniel couldn't help but look to the trees again, wondering if Brian did see something. He still had that feeling inside him – that low level buzz that wouldn't go away, that told him to be careful. The helicopter was still close enough to be blowing the leaves around, but soon it was far away, and with it, its lights. He looked over when he saw Evan shining his flashlight into some of the branches overhead.

"Ain't just you," Evan said, coming over to putting his hand on Daniel's shoulder.

"Like Adam said, let's get the hell out of here," Daniel said and moved to the camp fire.

While the group quickly cleaned up the camp – picking up the wrappings from the bandages, rolling up the blankets and stowing all the supplies and trash on the ATVs and horses, Daniel took the thermoses of coffee and juice and poured what was left of them over the campfire, dowsing the flames. Evan helped by kicking some dirt and sand over the ashes as well. When they were ready, the group mounted their horses and ATVs and started back toward the ranch.

"Will Brian'll be okay?" Evan asked Hannah, riding next to her.

"I'm sure he will," she replied.

Daniel pushed his horse ahead, wanting to get home; get to Brian. He calmed his horse a bit as he got closer to the ATVs, their loud engines scaring it, but then urged it forward again, moving around and ahead of them when he could.

"Daniel!" Adam shouted. "Don't push it! We don't want anyone else hurt out here!"

Daniel acknowledged his brother with a wave – even though it probably wasn't seen in the darkness, the ATV headlights and their flashlights the only real illumination out there. But if Evan, Marlene and Mike made it up there without any problems, he could make it back just as fast. He knew the way.

"I'm with Daniel," Evan said. "We all know the way now, Adam," he added. "I don't want to wait around here waiting for whatever it is…" he stopped and shrugged, not knowing how to voice his feelings. "Brian saw something, Adam!"

"Well I didn't!" Adam retorted. "And I'm not gonna risk us or the horses rushing out of here because of some sick animal making noise."

"That wasn't some sick animal, Adam!" Evan shouted back. "I don't know what it was, but it wasn't anything we've seen."

Adam was about to continue arguing with Evan, when Hannah moved up alongside him and touched his arm.

"I don't mind taking a faster pace," she said. "I think we can do it safely. I want to get out of here, too."

Adam saw the stress in Hannah's eyes. She was worried and scared. He looked around him in the darkness, moving his flashlight up to the trees, then ahead toward the open land in front of them. He sighed and nodded his head, letting them quicken their pace.

7b47b

"He's on his way," Dougie told Crane and the other boys. "They'll probably land at General within fifteen minutes or so."

"Can we go now, Crane?" Guthrie asked. "We can be there in less than an hour – before Adam and the others even get back here!"

"We can take the truck; leave them the Jeep," Ford suggested. "Adam won't mind. Heck, he'd want us to get there as soon as possible."

"Yeah," Crane said, nodding in agreement. Looking toward Dougie, he said, "Dougie, feel free to stay here inside. Let them know we went ahead, won't you?"

"Sure, Crane," Dougie said. "I'll let them know," he added. The McFaddens were gone, though, before he finished the sentence. He smiled as he picked up his radio, and relayed the message to Mike and Marlene.

7b47b

"Brian McFadden?" the flight paramedic called, recognizing Brian as one of his old high school football rivals. "Brian, do you remember what happened to you?" he continued, shining a light into Brian's eyes to check his pupils.

If Brian heard him, he didn't respond. Inside, he still only felt two things: the intense pain in his lower back and the fear for his family below him in the woods. He couldn't get the image of that pale figure out of his mind. He didn't know if it was real; he didn't know if it was just the play of light and shadows and wind in the leaves preying on his imagination. All he knew was that he was helpless to find out the truth; unable to do anything to keep his family safe.

"Brian! Brian can you hear me?" the paramedic called again, this time rubbing his knuckles along Brian's sternum.

Brian gasped at the new, painful sensation, eyes moving to focus on the figure above him.

"You with me, McFadden?"

"Steve Rhodes?" Brian replied; asked.

"Yeah, that's right, Brian," Steve replied. He continued his work, then, assessing Brian's condition, checking his vital signs. He continued the conversation as he worked, though, asking, "Where you hurting, Brian?"

As if on cue, the pain in his back and leg flared, but his thoughts were still for his family. "Steve! You gotta get them out of there." He reached up and grabbed the flight paramedic's sleeve. "You gotta go back and get them!"

Steve took Brian's hand off his sleeve and pressed it down against Brian's side, holding there as Brian resisted. "They're fine, Brian. You're the only one that's hurt. Now you need to calm down and let me take care of you. I'm gonna start an IV, so you need to keep your arm down, okay?"

"But there's something out there!" Brian shouted, straining the straps holding him down again, crying out, but ignoring the pain the movement caused.

"Brian! Calm down!" Steve shouted. "They're on their way back to your ranch!" He tapped the side of his headset to emphasize what he was saying, continuing, "I just heard the rescue team say they were all on the way back to your place, Brian! And your brother, Crane, will meet us at the hospital."

Knowing that his brothers were leaving that place and heading home did little to ease Brian's mind. He knew it was still a long ride back home.

"Come on, Brian!" Steven went on. "If I remember your brother Adam right, he'll be mad as hell if you fight with me on this and make yourself worse."

Brian closed his eyes and took some deep breaths of the oxygen he was being fed. "My back hurts. And my leg… it hurts, but something else, too… It feels… heavy," he told Steve.

7b47b

After the long ride, when the group saw the lights of the ranch in the distance, they couldn't feel anything but relief. As if on cue, everyone picked up the pace, urging the horses and revving the ATVs to go a little faster. Before long they were home. While Mike and Marlene were greeted by Doug by the rescue truck's trailer, the McFaddens all headed for the barn.

Inside the barn, they each worked quietly to take care of their horses.

"I know you want to hurry, but do it right," Adam said aloud, looking at his brothers.

"Don't need to tell us, Adam," Daniel muttered.

"Ease up, boys," Hannah cut in. "We all want to get going. Don't start up with another one of your McFadden brothers' argument sessions. Now's not the time."

Mike poked his head into the barn at that moment. "We're all set and loaded up," he said. "When you can, let us know how Brian's doing."

Adam moved to the door and shook Mike's hand. "Thanks, Mike. Appreciate you all coming out and helping," he said. "We'll be sure to call you tomorrow."

"We're all set, Adam," Hannah said, coming up behind him, putting her hands on his arm. "Let's get going now."

7b47b

Crane, Ford and Guthrie entered the hospital's emergency room and headed for the Admissions desk.

"Hi," Crane greeted the woman sitting at the desk. "My name is Crane McFadden. My brother, Brian McFadden, was supposed to be brought in by helicopter a little while ago."

"Yes," she answered. "He got here about half an hour ago."

"Is he all right?" Ford asked.

"Can we see him?" Guthrie asked at the same time.

Smiling at the young boys, she said, "I don't know his condition, and I'm sorry, but you can't go back there yet, but I'll let the doctor know his family is here for him."

"Thank you, ma'am," Crane replied, understanding. "Is there anything we need to fill out – health or insurance forms or anything?"

"You read my mind," she replied with a smile. "I've got some for you, but first, is there anything I need to tell the doctor right away? Does he have any allergies or is he on any medications or anything?"

"No. Nothing like that," Crane replied. He took the clipboard of forms from her and nudged his brothers back from the desk, so that they'd follow him to the waiting room seats.

"I hate this place," Ford muttered, flopping down on the couch next to Guthrie.

"I do, too," Crane said, reaching over to put his hand on top of his younger brother's head. He mussed Ford's hair as he added, "He'll be fine, though."

"Last time we were here we were waiting for you, Ford!" Guthrie added. "Adam made us all wait around, and all you had was a broken arm!"

"It was enough," Crane muttered, inwardly wishing that was all that could be wrong with Brian. He knew better, though. He reached into his pocket, then and brought out some coins. "Here, go get a can of soda or something we can share while we wait."

Crane watched as Ford grabbed up the money before Guthrie could, running across the room to the vending machines, before started on the paperwork.


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry about the delay – real life plays havoc with the muse. Thankfully, it came to me tonight and I would not ignore it. I know that this next bit isn't very long, but considering how long you've been waiting, I thought this was better than nothing. Thanks for all the reviews and requests for more!

Adam drove the Jeep as fast as he dared down the driveway and onto the road. If his wife and younger brothers weren't with him, he'd have easily driven a little on the reckless side – trading speed for caution. He'd done it many times before… before Hannah, before the responsibility of being the oldest had caused a different mindset to rule his life. He knew these roads like the back of his hand. He could drive them with his eyes closed. Hell, he actually had, once or twice, in youthful stupidity driving around with Brian and their high school buddies. Brian…

Now was not the time for foolish nonsense. Now was the time to get his family reunited. So it wasn't poor driving skills or carelessness that caused him to slam on the brakes in the middle of the road, swerving to the left…

"Adam!" "Watch out!" came the cries from the other occupants of the Jeep as Adam avoided hitting… something… that had run across the road in front of them.

"What the hell was that?" Adam whispered, catching his breath, looking at the others, making sure they were okay.

Hannah was the first to reply, putting her hand on Adam's forearm, saying, "I don't know and I don't want to know. Right now I just want to get to Brian."

Adam nodded his head and put the Jeep into first gear. He looked behind him, saw as Daniel and Evan were also looking around them, and started them off on the road again.

"That was him," Daniel said. "That was who was out there."

"That was no _who_!" Evan countered, fear in his voice. "That was not human!"

"Then what was it?" Daniel asked, refusing to believe that the pale figure that had just run across the road could be anything but human.

Adam glanced at Hannah, saw the fear in her eyes as she gripped the dashboard, felt his own uncertainty. "Quiet!" he shouted to his brothers, eyeing them in the rearview mirror. "No more!"

"But Adam!" Daniel argued before getting cut off by his older brother again.

"Enough! We got enough to think about right now: Brian," he told them, but subtly nodded his head toward Hannah.

Evan and Daniel got the hint and quieted, not saying anything more. No one did. But just because they didn't say anything aloud, it didn't mean any of the four weren't thinking of what they'd just seen: something with pale skin; hairless; muscular, yet emaciated; human looking, yet… there was something almost monstrous about it; inhuman. Evil.

Adam felt Hannah's hand on his leg and he reached down to hold it tight, steering the Jeep with his left hand.

7b47b

Crane looked up at the sound of familiar voices entering the waiting room.

"Crane? How is he?" Hannah asked, rushing to meet him.

"Doc thinks he'll be okay," Crane replied, looking at each newly arrived brother in turn, moving to put his hand on each one's shoulder, as if reassuring himself that they were okay, too.

"He's in surgery," Ford added.

"Surgery?" Adam asked, worry back on his face.

"Some of the blood vessels in his leg got blocked or broken," Crane explained simply. "They had to call in a vascular surgeon to fix them, to get circulation back."

"What about his back?" This from Daniel.

"It's broken," Crane told him, but quickly added, "But it'll be fine."

"He's not paralyzed or anything," Guthrie spoke up from Hannah's side, where he'd quickly gone when she had arrived. He wanted to be part of the conversation, too.

His older brothers and sister-in-law smiled at his enthusiasm, grateful for the innocence in their midst

Crane went on to explain in more detail, his tone obvious that he'd memorized and practiced this part: "He's got three lumbar transverse process fractures."

"In English?" Evan asked.

"Meaning he'll be flat on his back for a week, pumped up with pain killers."

The group turned around to see Dr. Wagner smiling at the group.

"I take it these are more brothers and a sister?" she asked.

Crane quickly introduced the rest of the family to the doctor before asking about Brian.

"He's fine. Just got out of surgery and in recovery," she told them. "The orthopedist will get him next, to take care of his back and then he'll be settled into a room."

"When can we see him?" Daniel asked.

Dr. Wagner saw the desperation in the family – having been separated from their brother for so long has obviously taken its toll in worry.

"I think I can sneak a few of you in to see him while he's still in recovery," she said, adding, "How about Evan and Daniel? He's been very worried about you two."

Daniel was ready to go. Evan looked to Adam first, getting permission. Adam nodded his head and the two were quickly gone, following Dr. Wagner out of the waiting room.

Adam felt Hannah's hand on his arm, pulling him toward the couch. Crane, Ford and Guthrie were already sitting down again. He followed tiredly. After the past few hours of adrenaline rush action – riding to find Brian, worrying about what they heard out there, then what they saw… He felt himself slowly crashing and easily dropped down onto the couch, leaning his head back. He wanted to tell Crane about what they saw. He needed another, objective opinion. But not in front of Ford or Guthrie. It would wait.

He looked to the wall across the room, saw the clock ticking away. Could it really be 12:30am?

"I already called Vic Foley," Crane told him. When Adam just looked at him blankly, he said, "He's gonna send a couple of his guys to the ranch in the morning to start the chores."

Adam nodded and said, "Thanks. Didn't even think that far ahead."

"I'll probably take these two back with me soon anyway," Crane added, nodding at Ford, who looked ready to fall asleep, and Guthrie, who looked like he already had, his head nodding against Hannah's shoulder.

Adam was about to agree, when Hannah said, "Wait until it's light. We can all take a nap here. We just got here."

Crane looked confused, but looking at how Adam and Hannah now were eyeing each other… he nodded his head.

"I'll tell you later," Adam told him.

7b47b

"Just a few minutes," Dr. Wagner told Evan and Daniel. "And don't get him excited. He needs to keep calm and rested."

The brothers nodded and moved closer to Brian, flanking him.

"Hey, Bri?" Daniel called gently. "Hey, buddy, wake up a little."

Brian's eyes fluttered at the familiar voice.

"You're gonna be okay," Evan told him, putting a hand on Brian's left shoulder.

"Ev?" Brian whispered hoarsely.

"Yeah, Brian. We're here," he replied. "Heard you were giving people a hard time."

Dr. Wagner had told the brothers about Brian's one-track mind, calling for them while he was in the emergency room.

"You okay? Dan?"

It was hard for Evan and Daniel to listen to the pain and confusion in Brian's voice, as much as it had been in the woods. But at least they were safe here. As if thinking the same thing, Daniel and Evan both looked up at each other.

"I'm here, too, Bri," Daniel replied, returning his gaze to Brian's.

"I saw… I saw…" Brian tried to gather his thoughts; couldn't.

Remembering Dr. Wagner's orders, Evan was quick to change the subject. "Hey, Brian – I saw that doctor of yours – she's hot! And, man, I hear the nurses here are something to look at, too!"

"And you've got at least a week of sponge baths coming your way, bro!" Daniel added, making Brian smile.

"Time to go, boys," the recovery room nurse told them, coming to stand next to Brian, ready to check his vital signs again.

"Hey, take it easy, Brian," Evan said.

"We'll see you later, Bri," Daniel said.

Both brothers gave Brian a final pat on the shoulder before leaving and heading back down to the waiting room.

On the walk back neither was ready to broach the subject of what they had seen and by unspoken agreement, they didn't.


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Note: thanks for all the great reviews and support!

On the walk back neither was ready to broach the subject of what they had seen and by unspoken agreement, they didn't.

Until, that is, the Recovery Room nurse called to them. "Excuse me? Boys?"

Both boys turned toward her, worried that something had happened to Brian in the short minutes since they left.

"Hi," she said, smiling at them. "I, uh, didn't want to bring it up in front of your brother – we'd just gotten him calmed down again," she said, adding, "Seeing you two really helped."

Daniel caught the tone of her voice, though. She knew. "What can we do for you, Ma'am?"

"Your brother," she began, quickly glancing back to the Recovery Room area. "Before you two came, he was real scared. He believes he saw something out in the woods." She quickly picked up on the shared look between Evan and Daniel. "You saw it, too."

"I don't wanna talk about it," Evan told her and moved to leave.

"I think it's a wendigo," she blurted out, stopping Evan's movement.

"A what?" Daniel asked. "And who are you that you think you know what we saw?!"

The nurse looked around quickly, and then motioned the brothers into a small alcove. "My name is Marcia Singer. Obviously, I'm a nurse here in the Recovery Room," she began. Then, continuing in a hushed voice, she said, "But my Uncle Bobby – he… he hunts things. Nasty things. And I'm telling you that what your brother described – a scary looking man-thing – pale, hairless, skinny, yet muscular – it sounds just like something called a wendigo. Legend says it's a man that's gone feral; lost to the wilderness; turned cannibal."

"A cannibal?" Daniel balked. "This is Murphys, not some tropical wilderness with head-hunters and voodoo dolls!"

"We'll just tell the sheriff that thing's out there," Evan said. "He'll get a hunting party to go after it."

"You don't just hunt these things like deer or coyote!" Marcia exclaimed.

"You said your uncle does," Daniel countered.

"Look, I'd keep out of those woods for a while," Marcia warned them. "Leave the hunting to the professionals, like my uncle!" Looking at her watch, knowing she had to get back to work, she turned back down the hall.

Evan looked to Daniel, his older brother. "I think I believe her," he said.

"What?" Daniel asked.

"Can you explain what we felt? What we heard? What we _saw_ out there?"

Daniel met Evan's gaze. He put his head down and shook it. "No."

"We gotta tell Adam what she said," Evan said and started back to the waiting room again.

A few minutes later they met with the rest of the family.

"How is he?" Adam asked.

"Groggy," Evan replied, dropping down onto the couch, feeling a little groggy, himself.

"He's gonna be a hurtin' pup this week," Daniel said, leaning against a wall. "But he'll be fine. Plenty of cute nurses to take care of him."

"He wishes," Crane put in with a smile.

"Hey, um, Adam," Daniel spoke quietly, getting his brother's attention, "we gotta talk to you. About, you know."

Hannah picked up on things. Things she wanted no part of yet. "You boys head on down to the cafeteria and talk. I'll stay here with Ford and Guthrie and take a little nap," she offered.

Adam nodded and leaned down, giving his bride a kiss. "Don't worry," he whispered to her. "We'll figure something out."

Adam, Daniel, Evan and an intrigued Crane were soon heading toward the cafeteria.

"So what's going on, boys?" Crane asked as they walked.

"Wait until we sit down, Crane," Adam replied. "You'll be needing to sit down for this."

After the brothers went through the line, picking out some drinks and pastries to hold their hungry stomachs for a while, Adam led them to a table at the rear of the cafeteria, away from anyone that may walk by.

After a few requisite sips from his coffee cup and a bite of a cheese Danish, Crane looked at his brothers and demanded, "What the heck's going on? You three looked more spooked than a Halloween ghost!"

"We… we saw something; crossing in the road on the way here," Adam started.

"It's a wendigo!" Evan blurted out.

"What?" Adam and Crane both questioned.

"It's a monster. Brian saw it in the woods. We all heard it," Evan explained.

"Monster?!" Crane balked.

"We saw something! It didn't look human!" Adam added, then turned to Evan and questioned, "Wendigo?"

Daniel broke in, raising his hands, silencing the others. Looking at Crane first and then the others, he asked, "Let me start from the beginning?" Evan and Adam nodded their heads. He began the story. "Brian, Evan and me went to Bob Carver's and got them cows back. We knew they'd been spooked by something – they broke right through the damn fence. On the way back, after fixing the fence, we looked around some, wondering what mighta scared them like that. Evan found a deer – looked like it might've been killed by a wolf. But…"

"But what?" Crane asked.

"It was a feeling," Daniel replied quietly.

"The kind you just can't explain – like when the hair on your neck just stands up," Evan put in.

"When that little voice in your head starts screaming at you, telling you that something's wrong," Adam added.

Adam, Daniel and Evan all looked at each other, knowing that they were each describing the same feeling of fear that they'd had in the woods, and then, later, on the road when they saw the… thing.

"Later on," Evan began, picking up the story, "Brian's horse picked up a rock or something. We stopped to get it out. It was while Brian was down next to the horse that they all got spooked and started jumping around. When the pack horse knocked Brian down to the ground."

"I'd swear a bobcat had swooped in and clawed the dang thing, but there wasn't a mark on him," Daniel remarked.

"Okay, so we've all had scary feelings out there. It's dark and lonely and on certain nights, anyone can get the heeby-jeebies," Crane remarked, trying to give his brothers an out.

"Brian saw something in the trees. Scared the shit out of him," Daniel said. "Almost clawed himself out of the backboard straps – and Marley had tied him in tight!"

"He was scared and in pain," Crane again tried to reason.

"We saw it, too," Adam said, his tone flat. "Crossed the road in front of us on the way here. Almost crashed the Jeep."

Crane saw the look in his brothers' eyes. They weren't scared or in pain while driving. Stressed, maybe… but he was beginning to believe they'd seen _some_thing. "What are you talking about? Bigfoot?"

"Wendigo."

Adam looked at Evan. "Where did you get that word?"

Daniel took over again. "The Recovery Room nurse, Marcia Singer. She said that she'd heard Brian talking about it – worried about us – describing it." He looked at Crane then, and said, "Man-sized, but it wasn't a man. Skinny, but with muscles. No hair; almost white it was so pale."

Crane couldn't believe what he was hearing. Had his brothers seen a monster? They were _serious._

"The nurse called it a wendigo. A man that's gone feral, turned cannibal," Daniel continued.

"She said her uncle hunts things like that. That she was gonna call him," Evan added.

"We should just call the sheriff," Crane suggested, matter of factly.

"Oh, like he's gonna believe us?" Daniel asked, disbelieving.

The brothers looked at each other and then back at Crane. "No, I guess not," Crane replied. He played with his Danish, spinning the plate around. "So what do we do?"

"That nurse is gonna call her uncle. We'll help him hunt it down," Daniel replied.

"I don't want any part of that thing!" Evan exclaimed.

"We can't just let it roam the woods!" Daniel retorted. "Our woods!" he added for emphasis, looking toward his older brothers. "Adam?"

"We go on and take care of Brian and we take care of the ranch," Adam said.

"But-"

"No, Daniel!" Adam interrupted, pointing a finger at him. "Not yet," he added softly. "Just like we hunt anything – deer, wolf, coyote or cougar – we don't go off half-cocked. We have a plan, and we stick together."

"We gonna wait for this Uncle Bobby guy?" Daniel asked.

"I think we should," Evan suggested. "I don't know, guys, but I believe that nurse."

Adam nodded his head. "And in the meantime, no one works alone; no one rides alone; no one goes out after dark," he ordered.

7b47b

Marcia followed alongside Brian as he was moved from Recovery to a room in the Orthopedics wing of the hospital. She normally didn't follow patients beyond her assigned area in the Recovery Room, but she didn't have any other patients at the moment, and wanted to make sure she kept tabs on this one. She'd grown up hearing the horror stories and even seeing some evil in her lifetime, before she left her family behind to be a nurse. She didn't think she'd encounter anything like this again.

She winced in sympathy as Brian groaned in pain as he was transferred from the gurney to the bed and positioned in as much comfort as he could be. She helped the receiving nurse set up his IV lines and raise his injured leg.

"If he asks for his brothers, Evan and Daniel, they're fine," she told the other nurse, a guy named Tom. "Remind him that he saw them in Recovery."

"Yeah, I heard he had a long, rough night in the woods," Tom replied.

"That's… an under…statement," Brian whispered sleepily, having heard their conversation.

"Well, you're safe, now, Brian," Marcia told him.

"And so are your brothers," Tom added, figuring he might just prevent some issues from coming up later.

"s'good," Brian replied.


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Notes: Big thanks to may7fic for the assistance – for "laying down the law," so to speak.

Back in the Waiting Room, all things were quiet, with the seven members of the McFadden family taking up half the room. Sprawled on the couches, leaning up against one another, feet and legs tangled as they tried to get comfortable, six of them asleep, it made the seventh smile sadly.

Adam, the only one awake, watching over his family, waiting for his chance to see Brian, and just unable to fall asleep anyway, tried to keep himself still. He was unable to make sense of the being, what had now been given the name, wendigo. He knew what he felt when he was in the woods – but that truly wasn't anything new, he reasoned. They'd all been out in the woods at night, have all had fear of something or other take over their emotions… but what he saw running across the road… he knew it was not right. It was not just some naked guy running around; some crazed or drugged streaker. There was something about this thing that truly was not, or was no longer, human.

Adam rubbed his hands up and down his face, frustrated. This thing, whatever it was, had no business on his land. It had no right to disrupt his family, to make them afraid. Adam sat forward and put his elbows on his knees. Unable to sit any longer, he stood and moved out of the Waiting Room, not wanting to wake the rest of the family. He paced the hallway slowly, trying to come up with a plan. He figured he and Daniel and Crane could try to track this thing – he had a good idea of where it had been on the road, and where that intersected with the McFadden property all the way to where Brian had gotten hurt last night. They'd follow that line in search of this thing and…

And that's where Adam stalled, stopping in his tracks, leaning on the wall and banging his head lightly against it. If this wendigo was once or is human – and how was he even believing this whole story?! – then how could he just hunt it? Technically speaking, this thing hadn't really hurt anyone – the horses got spooked and one of them came down on Brian. Hell, that's happened to all of them in some way. How many times has he or the others gotten head butted or thrown from a skittish horse? They're big animals and you take the risk of injury any time you deal with an animal of that size.

Adam shook his head. It wasn't a monster. It was a man. A crazy man, but that's it. They were all stressed out, worried about Brian. It was dark. Adam shook his head, berating himself inside. He walked down the hall and toward the pay phone. Taking a quarter out, he phoned the sheriff's department.

"Hey, Jeannie," he greeted the dispatcher. "Adam McFadden. Who's working this morning?"

"Ed Sykes is working in your area right now, Adam," she replied easily. "Whatcha need? And how's Brian doing?"

"Brian's doing okay," Adam replied. "He's got a broken back – "

"Oh no!" Jeannie replied, interrupting. "How bad?"

Adam smiled at the concern. Jeannie was one of Brian's many past girlfriends. "He's gonna be fine. Lots of rest and pain medication and he'll be up in no time," he told her, calming her fears. He also knew that Jeannie would be spreading this word to the rest of the town and Brian would likely have no shortage of people, especially women, coming to visit him. Adam quickly realized that that may not be a good thing and told her, "Rest is the important thing. So keep the visits down to a minimum for a bit, okay?"

"Oh, sure, Adam," she replied. "So what do you need Ed for?" she asked, getting back to the first order of business.

Adam paused, not sure how to say what he wanted to say at first, but then just blurted out, "On our way to the hospital tonight, on Route Five, some naked guy ran in front of us across the road. Came from the woods on our side of the road and went south."

Adam heard the chuckle in her voice as Jeannie replied, "A naked guy?"

"Yeah. Don't know who he was or what the heck he was doing out there, but I figure if Ed's got any other reports of a naked guy running around, or if there're any missing person reports or something…" Adam shrugged his shoulders, not knowing what else to say.

"I'll let Ed know, Adam," Jeannie replied. "You all still at the hospital in case he wants to talk to you?"

"Yeah, we'll be here until early morning light, at least. Thanks, Jeannie," he replied and hung up the phone.

Feeling a little better, feeling a little more grounded in reality, Adam bypassed the Waiting Room and headed for the Admissions Desk.

"Any chance I can get up to see Brian McFadden now?" he asked the woman at the desk. "Dr. Wagner said I could probably go up," he said, looking at his watch.

The woman made a quick phone call and then nodded to Adam, saying, "Room four thirty-four."

Adam thanked her and headed for the elevator.

A few minutes later, Adam entered the quiet room and sat down in a chair next to the bed. There was a dim light on to the right of the bed, illuminating the room enough for Adam to see that it was, indeed, his younger brother in the bed.

Brian looked horrible. The bruise on his cheek was showing in living color red and purple. Oddly enough, that wasn't what bothered Adam. They'd both had worse from bar fights, or even worse, from brother fights… He lifted a hand and brushed some hair off of Brian's forehead, then left his hand there a moment longer. What bothered Adam so much was how, even in sleep, Brian looked completely exhausted. He knew how long Brian and Daniel had been in the woods, waiting for rescue. He couldn't imagine how Brian could have lasted those hours, kept immobile on cold hard ground, in pain from a broken back and injured leg. Add to it the fear…

Adam sighed and shook his head. He thought about the phone call to the sheriff's office. Did he just send Ed out alone to look for that thing?

"Adam?"

The hoarse whisper of his name brought Adam out of his thoughts and looking at Brian.

"Hey. Hey there," he quietly greeted his brother with a gentle smile, and a pat on his hand.

"Daniel? Evan?"

Adam heard the worry in Brian's voice and quickly allayed his fear, saying, "They're fine. They're downstairs, asleep." Turning the conversation, he asked, "How about you? How are you feeling?"

"I… I don't know. My back?"

Sensing what Brian was getting at, Adam told him what the family had been told of his condition. "You're gonna be here for a week or so, resting."

"I feel like crap," Brian whispered. "Hate sleeping on my back."

Adam nodded his head. "Yeah, I know. Always got that bar in the way," he said of the uncomfortable sofa bed Brian and Guthrie had been forced to share. He looked at Brian again. Under the light sheet covering Brian, Adam saw the outline of a brace of some sort wrapped around Brian's torso. It didn't look too comfortable, either. "We'll have to figure out a new place for you to sleep at home," he added with a sad smile, but Brian was asleep before he had finished the sentence.

Adam stood and patted Brian's hand again before leaving the room. He found another payphone and told Jeannie to have Ed come talk to him first, and not to look for the crazy naked guy just yet.

Joining his family back in the Waiting Room, Adam sat quietly in the chair he'd vacated earlier. Before long, he was asleep, too.

7b47b

Crane was the first to wake up when Ed Sykes showed up. Despite trying not to wake the others, having to move Evan's and then Daniel's bodies off of his shoulders and their resultant movements, causing more movement on the couches, Crane was unsuccessful.

"What time is it?" Hannah asked with a yawn.

"Almost four," Ed replied.

Adam nodded his head. It hadn't been all that long since he'd fallen asleep. "You all go back to sleep," he said, looking at Hannah. "Just gonna talk to Ed about what we saw on the road."

Hannah nodded, but then asked, "Did you get to see Brian?"

"Yeah," Adam replied. "He's doing just fine."

Ed, seeing and hearing that Adam wanted to keep Hannah and the two younger McFadden's out of the conversation, moved to the other side of the Waiting Room. He was soon followed by Adam, Crane, Daniel and Evan.

"So what's going on, Adam?" Ed asked. "I'd heard all about Brian's accident from Mike and Marlene. Heck, I listened to all the radio transmissions on the scanner. But now Jeannie says you called about some crazy naked guy? Hell of a night for you!"

Adam couldn't help but smile at the remark.

"Wasn't no crazy naked guy, Mr. Sykes," Daniel said, no humor in his voice at all.

Evan pulled Adam back from the group, whispering, "I thought we talked about this, Adam. I thought we agreed that this wasn't something for the sheriff's department."

Adam squeezed Evan's arm, silently asking him to hear him out, and moved back to the deputy's side. "Ed, I don't know how to explain this," he began. "Something out in the woods… something spooked us. All of us. Brian… when he was being airlifted, well, he _saw_ something out there. In the trees."

"Did any of you see anything?" Ed asked, looking at the group.

"Not then," Daniel replied, looking at Adam and Evan.

"But later?"

"When we were driving here," Adam said. "The naked guy. He ran across the road in front of us."

Evan and Daniel both looked wide eyed at Adam. "It wasn't no naked guy!" Daniel exclaimed again. "Adam! You saw it. You know it!"

"Keep your voice down," Crane hushed him, glancing back at Hannah, Ford and Guthrie.

"You know it wasn't, Adam," Evan put in mindful to be quiet. "You saw exactly what we saw. You were with us when we told Crane – hell, he believed because _you _believed!"

Adam dropped his head and blew out a breath. "I know. And I _do_ know…"

"Crazy naked guy – but not human. Muscles but skinny at the same time."

The four brothers looked at Sykes in awe; he'd described the wendigo just as they'd seen. "How?" "Did you see it?" "You know?" "What?" all came from their mouths.

"Been hearing it from Scotty Carruthers for the past two weeks," Ed explained simply, knowing that the brothers would understand.

Scotty Carruthers was a local resident. One that everyone knew, everyone liked, and had been living and working in the area all his life. But Scotty was not like everyone else. Scotty had severe learning disabilities and mentally, was a ten year old boy in a forty year old body. He lived with his grandmother on a small farm not too far from the McFaddens. It was very easy to understand why Ed Sykes didn't do any follow up on Scotty's story.

"See! It's not just us!" Daniel cried.

"So what do we do about this…thing, Ed?" Adam asked.

"Well, I'll ask Hal Toomey to head out your way come daylight," Sykes replied. "He can check around, if you show him where you all saw him."

Thinking of his earlier thoughts, Adam quickly said, "Don't send him alone."

"Oh, he'll have King with him," Ed retorted, smiling. "That dog'll find what you're looking for." He nodded his head, adding to his assurance.

"Marcia Singer's uncle is coming," Evan said. "Wait for him. They can hunt it down together."

"Marcia Singer?" Ed questioned.

"She's a nurse here," Daniel explained.

"I know who she is. I know her uncle, too," Ed replied. He looked away from the group for a second or two, and blew out a breath. "Her uncle Bobby's coming? You're sure?"

"Yeah," Evan replied, his tone somewhat questioning.

"Something wrong with him coming here, Ed?" Adam asked, worry in voice.

"Nah. Nothing wrong," Sykes replied. "I guess if Singer's coming, then it's something we'll stay out of. He's an okay guy, though, Adam. Talk to him . Tell him what you saw and where. Then stay out of his way."

With that said Sykes turned away and started walking toward the exit. He stopped and looked back at the stunned McFadden brothers, then, and said, "Tell Brian I hope he gets better real soon," and continued on out.

"What the hell was that?" Crane asked, confused by Sykes' attitude.

Adam took a step away from his brothers, as if to follow Sykes, and then stopped. He turned around and faced them. "I don't know what to make of it. What to make of any of what happened last night," he told them, shrugging his shoulders. "All I know is that we've got a brother and a ranch to take care of. We'll cooperate with this Bobby Singer guy if he asks, but I get the feeling I'm going to agree with Ed, that we're not the ones to hunt down anything. This man, or this wendigo thing… all it's done is scare people. No harm in that. Not worth hunting it down."

"So we're just gonna wait for it to hurt someone then?" Daniel asked, upset. "What about Brian?!"

"It didn't hurt Brian," Crane said. "And from what you told me, you and Brian were alone, vulnerable, even, and it didn't come after you. Didn't try to hurt you…"

Daniel and Evan both wanted to argue with Crane's statement. They knew how scared they'd been; how they'd been affected by the happenings of the night in the woods; by what they saw in the road. But they also saw the twin looks in Adam's and Crane's eyes. They knew that no matter how much they argued at this point, it would be on deaf and determined ears.

"Head on back over there," Crane told them, pointing to the couches where Hannah, Ford and Guthrie were sprawled out. "Come daylight most of us need to head home and get to work."

"I thought Vic Foley's guys were gonna be there?" Evan asked.

"They have their own work to do. No need for all of us to sit around here all day doing nothing while someone else is working our place," Adam said firmly.

The younger brothers nodded their head in agreement to this reasoning, but still managed to show their displeasure at the prior conversation's ending.

Crane touched Adam's arm holding him back from following Daniel and Evan. "You sure on this?" he asked.

"No."


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Sorry for the long wait, everyone! But trying to get time, motivation and ideas all lined up at the same time is about as easy as herding cats! I hope to do better next time (yeah, I know, you've heard that line before…)

Hours later, all the McFaddens but Brian were home, working. Adam and Crane had thanked the Foley brothers and family for helping out and starting on the chores, promising to return the favor if it was ever needed. Vic Foley let them know that they'd still help out, if needed, since Brian would be laid up for the next month or two at least – and that helping out was just what good friends and neighbors did.

Not having come to any good consensus, no one mentioned the wendigo to the Foleys or anyone else they met up with since leaving the hospital that morning. And there was no time to even discuss it amongst themselves, either, with Guthrie, Ford and Hannah around at all times, too.

The work was done, quietly and efficiently, with no time for too much of anything else. Despite the Foley's help, there was still a lot to do on the ranch.

Coming into the kitchen for lunch, which Hannah had made, everyone seemed to notice the quiet tension in the room, but Ford was the one to speak up, saying, "There's nothing you guys aren't telling us, right? I mean, Brian really is gonna be okay, right?"

Glad that Brian was the subject, Adam, replied, "Yes, Brian's gonna be just fine. The doctor assured us."

"He's going to need a lot of help for the first few weeks home, probably," Crane added, looking around the table. "You know, getting up and down, moving around, getting dressed..."

"Oh, man, changing his stinky socks!" Guthrie exclaimed, putting his fingers to his nose. "I remember having to help him tie his shoes when he hurt his shoulder that time! I'm not doing it this time!" he added, waving his arms.

The family laughed at Guthrie's antics, and the older boys were glad to have something to laugh about.

"We are gonna have to change some things around for him," Hannah said. "That old mattress on the pullout he and Guthrie have been sharing – let alone that hard, uncomfortable bar in the middle – isn't going to do him any good."

"We can bring my bed downstairs for a while," Ford offered. "Bring the pullout's mattress upstairs and Guthrie can bunk with me on it on the floor in me and Evan's room."

"I think, maybe it'll just be easier if Brian had one of your beds upstairs," Crane countered, adding, "that way he's closer to all of us and the bathroom at night, if need be."

"And it's probably about time I fixed the loose railings on the porch that Hannah's been bugging me about," Adam said, sheepishly looking at Hannah.

"Oh, sure, you do that for Brian, but not your own wife!" Hannah said with a giggle, playfully swatting Adam with her napkin.

After another round of laughter and more ideas of how the family would have to help Brian upon his return home, the family cleared the table of the lunch dishes and headed out for the afternoon chores.

Hannah called to Adam before he left, though. "Adam?"

He saw the question in her eyes. After making sure the rest of the boys were outside, he took Hannah by the hand and led her into the living room.

"As much as I don't want to talk about it, you need to tell me what you all talked about at the hospital, and with Sheriff Sykes," she said.

Adam told her everything. As much as he wanted to protect his wife from such things, he knew she would know if he left anything out and see it as a betrayal of her trust. And he trusted her with his very being. So from Marcia Singer's naming of the wendigo, to her uncle's coming to Murphys, to Ed Syke's revelation that Scotty Carruthers had seen the thing, too, he told her.

"What if this Bobby Singer guy can't find it?" she asked. "I don't want you, or any of the boys for that matter, going after it. It's not like it's a cougar or a wolf, Adam. It's a… a…" She shook her head and ran her hand through her hair in frustration.

"Wendigo," Adam supplied.

"If that really exists!" Hannah replied, angrily. Then, more softly, she continued, "Adam, this could be a human being; someone who has gone feral or something – kind of like what Marcia Singer said. "

"Which is why I agreed that we weren't going to have any part in hunting it," Adam told her.

"And yet… and yet, I almost have to feel sorry for it – if it's a man, maybe someone with some mental illness. Maybe someone who could have been like Scotty, but without the loving family and friends to take care of him." She looked at Adam, sadness in her eyes. "Shouldn't we try to help him?"

"I don't know, Hannah." The frustration was back in his voice. "I think… I think for now, we gotta take care of things here. We told Sykes. I think we gotta let him handle it."

"Even if him handling it is actually passing the problem on to some stranger, Marcia Singer's uncle?"

"Brian's safe. We all know what's going on, what to look for," Adam said as he rose from the couch. "I told the boys that we needed to be extra careful; not go out at night." At Hannah's look, he quickly, added, "No, not Ford or Guthrie. We don't need to tell them. They're young enough that they shouldn't be going out at night anyway." And then, summing things up, he asked, quietly, "What else can we do, other than go hunt it for ourselves? And I don't want to do that."

Hannah nodded her head in agreement. She felt helpless.

"Give us a couple of hours to finish up and clean up, then we'll all head back and see Brian," Adam said. He leaned down and gave Hannah a kiss before heading outside and toward the barn.

7b47b

The brothers had hoped seeing Brian would brighten their spirits. They'd had a long, strenuous day after a night of no real sleep and worry and more hours spent trying to keep their mind off the wendigo. Unfortunately, their visit to their injured brother was not what they'd hoped. Brian was feeling the effects of his injuries and actually looked worse than he'd had the night before.

Any movement at all sent shooting pains up and down his spine, to and from the points of impact and the broken vertebra. And if that wasn't the central focus, then being just plain uncomfortable in the bed, unable to move much, which frustrated him into moving, did. Then the pain from his leg and the surgery would make itself known. While the pain medication helped most of the time, when he asked for it, he and the nurses hadn't quite gotten the rhythm and timing down yet as to how long the dose would last and how effective it would be. Thus, he was miserable and looked it.

When Adam and the rest had first come in, he tried asking them about the creature he had seen. But Adam had quickly silenced him, motioning to Ford and Guthrie, and mouthing, "Later," promising to talk to him about it another time. Brian nodded in understanding.

At first, Brian had tried to keep up with the conversation, but Hannah and the brothers wound up just talking amongst themselves, or talking to Brian, yet expecting any replies, as he was either asleep or unable to follow because of the pain. Crane was the one that finally suggested cutting the visit short, less than an hour into their visit, to let Brian rest and not have to worry about keeping up with them. They couldn't tell if Brian was relieved or upset when they left.

7b47b

The ride home was quiet in both the truck and the Jeep, the family more somber coming home than when they'd left to visit Brian. While they knew Brian would only get better, it was still very difficult to see him in such pain. Evan and Daniel, riding together with Crane and Ford in the Jeep, could only share looks, but both recognized the pent up frustration and anger over their brother's predicament, and their helplessness to do anything about the thing that caused it.

Adam and Hannah shared similar looks in the truck ahead of them, forced to keep up a positive mood for Guthrie's sake.

By the time the family got back to the ranch, it was time for their evening chores.

Daniel and Evan met in the barn, and making sure no others were near, finally spoke of the wendigo.

"I don't care what Adam says, I'm going after that thing," Daniel said, pulling down a bale of hay.

"Are you crazy?!" Evan exclaimed. "Do you know what Adam will do to you if he finds out?!"

"What are we supposed to do, Ev? Just sit back while some stranger comes on OUR land and hunts for it?!" Daniel countered.

"All I know is that we were out there – don't you remember how you felt?"

"What if that Singer guy can't find it? Are we supposed to spend the rest of our lives worrying and being scared to go out on our own property?"

Evan paced back and forth, checking again to make sure they were alone. "Let's just listen to Adam and Sheriff Sykes first," he said. "Let's give this guy a chance. If what Marcia said is true, he'll find it."

"How do we even know that?" Daniel questioned. "Hell, Ev, we only met _her_ last night. She could be some weird psycho and we're _all _on some crazy wild goose-chase."

"Which is why you're gonna listen to Adam and stay put!"

Daniel and Evan spun around, surprised at the sound of Crane's voice, and saw their older brother standing nearby, his hands on his hips. The stern look he gave them was almost as severe as any Adam would have given them, and even Daniel didn't even try to argue.

"Come on," Crane said. "We've all been through hell these past twenty-four hours. We're starting to get punch-drunk and our thinking is getting messed up. Let's finish up here, have some dinner and get to bed early."

With that said, he moved to help Daniel and Evan with their work.

7b47b

Brian didn't know what time it was when he received a visitor in his room. He kind of remembered his family visiting this afternoon. It was still light out then. He had vague memories of eating dinner, unfortunate better memories of throwing up dinner, and various faces of nurses coming in to take care of his various needs – cleaning up the dinner he threw up, checking and changing bandages, adjusting the brace he wore, emptying and replacing various bags, tubes and other medical paraphernalia… How long things took, or what time it was now, he didn't know. All he knew was that it was dark outside, and a strange man, accompanied by a nurse had come in and woken him up.

"Mr. McFadden? Brian?" the nurse called. "I don't know if you remember me from last night or not. I'm Marcia. Marcia Singer," she said. "This is my uncle, Bobby Singer," she continued, introducing the thirtyish-looking man with her.

Brian blinked his eyes several times, trying to wake up enough to get a look at the pair. He had no recollection of the woman, which he was surprised and a little upset about, because he would have hoped to remember a pretty young nurse like her… He started thinking about what kind of good line he could come up with, asking for a sponge bath, maybe, when the man spoke to him, interrupting his thoughts.

"Mr. McFadden, my niece says you saw something in the woods last night. Could you describe it?" he asked.

All thoughts of beautiful nurses and sponge baths left Brian's head, replaced by cold fear and the image of that pale being jumping from branch to branch. As his heart rate and breaths increased, he tried to remind himself that he'd seen his family that afternoon. They were all safe.

"Mr. McFadden?" Singer prompted.

"White… pale, so pale," Brian whispered. "In the trees. Ready to jump on us."

"But it didn't," Singer prompted. "You were all in the woods for a few hours, and nothing attacked, right?"

"Not us. But the deer... something got the deer," Brian replied, recalling the torn up carcass he and his brothers had found before he got hurt.

He moved to try to get more comfortable and cried out as his back protested. Marcia quickly intervened, gently pressing him back into the mattress, her voice soothing.

When Brian regained his breath and his pain abated some, he was alone in the room again, with the lights dimmed. He started to wonder if he'd dreamed the encounter with the man or woman or if they'd been real.

7b47b

At 7am, the McFadden ranch was in full swing. The family was in and out of the house, barn and various locations tending the animals and/or fixing a troubled tractor. Adam heard the car pull into the yard first, and moved off the front porch to meet the man exiting the beat up 1970 Chevy Chevelle.

"Bobby Singer," the man introduced himself to Adam, putting out his hand to shake.

Adam was surprised to see such a young man, someone close to his age. He was expecting "Uncle Bobby" to be someone in his fifties or so. He shook the offered hand and introduced himself. "I'm Adam McFadden."

"My niece tells me that you and your brothers saw something in the woods last night," Singer said, coming right to the point. "Something a little on the unusual side."

"You could say that," Adam replied. "Your niece told my brothers it was something called a wendigo. Whatever the hell that is. Maybe you could explain it better to me."

"Still need to determine if that's what it was," Singer replied. "What did it look like? How did it act?" he asked.

Adam tipped his head back and pursed his lips, wondering about this whole thing. He looked back at the man in front of him, upset that this man was taking this seriously, that he must have believed in this wendigo thing – there was no bit of humor in his eyes or on his face as he waited for Adam's answer.

"Pale skin. No hair. Muscular and emaciated at the same time," Adam said flatly. After a second or two of continued contemplation, he added, "There was something evil about it. Can't explain it."

Singer nodded his head. "Can you show me where you saw it? And where your brother, Brian, saw it?" He pulled out a map of the area and spread it out on the hood of his car.

As he did so, the rest of the McFadden family came to the front of the house, curious about their visitor. Crane had a hard time getting Ford and Guthrie to stay away, but with Hannah's help managed to tell them that it was just "grownup" stuff, that the man was someone that they might do business with and wanted to talk numbers and politics. At the mention of politics, Guthrie rolled his eyes and willingly turned toward the house. With a raised eyebrow look that promised cleaning type chores from Hannah, Ford, too soon gave in and went into the house.

"You Bobby Singer?" Daniel asked, approaching Adam and Singer.

"That's right," Singer replied. "You two must be Daniel and Evan," he said, adding, "Marcia mentioned two good looking kid brothers."

"I want to help you hunt that thing down," Daniel blurted out.

"No way." It was said simultaneously by both Adam and Singer.

Adam looked at Singer and silently gave him a brownie point. He didn't want any of his brothers out hunting this thing and definitely not with someone he didn't know or trust yet.

"Sorry, Kid, but I work solo," Singer added. "This is what I do and I don't need some young punk kids along for the ride to worry about."

"Young punk…" Daniel started to reply, only to get elbowed by Adam.

"Shut up, Daniel!" Adam said in addition to the elbow. "Mr. Singer wants to work alone, that's what we'll let him do. It'll be safer for all of us this way."

Daniel was about to argue again, when he felt not just Crane's hand on his shoulder, but Hannah's too. He bit his tongue, shook his head and decided to walk away, holding his anger in. After a few minutes, Crane followed, not wanting to worry about chasing him down later, after probably going against Adam's advice.

Evan spoke up, then, asking, "Is it a wendigo, like Marcia said?"

Singer shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. The way you all have described it, I'd say yes. But it ain't acting like one." He looked at Adam again and said, "Why don't you show me now," pointing to the map.

Adam looked down at the map. "This is us, here," he said, pointing. He moved his finger to the left. "This is where we were when we rescued Brian. Here," he said, moving his finger over a bit more, "is where it crossed the road in front of us; going from here to here."

Singer marked the spots Adam pointed to with a pencil. Evan noticed other pencil marks on the map. He pointed to them. "What are they from? Are they where Scotty Carruthers saw it?" he asked.

Singer looked at them. "You know about him, too?"

"Sheriff Sykes told us," Adam answered. He wanted Singer to know that the sheriff was aware of things. "He knows you were coming here, too," he added.

Singer nodded his head. "I'll be starting here." He pointed to a place on the map that was central to the sightings. "You best keep your little brother out of my way." With that, he turned and got back into his car.


End file.
